Alex Smith Q&A: ‘I went out there today and was fine’

Niners quarterback Alex Smith is “on track” to start Monday night against the Bears after he sustained a concussion in the first half of Sunday’s 24-24 tie against the Rams, according to ESPN.

Smith, who has been cleared by an independent neurologist to resume physical activity, was less certain about his status when he addressed the media after participating in practice today. For his part, backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he didn’t take increased reps in today’s practice, a possible clue that Smith is in line to make his 27th straight start against Chicago.

Tight end Vernon Davis expects Smith to return.

“Right now it looks like Alex will be our quarterback, for sure,” he said.

Here’s the transcript from Smith’s post-practice Q&A:

How are you feeling?

AS: I feel good. Better.

What’s your status?

AS: Just going along with the process right now. Nothing’s been decided. This is a whole long process of stuff. It’s up to the doctors. Just kind of doing what they tell me and moving along.

You’ve obviously been cleared for on-field activity. What allowed you to get on field today?

AS: They have certain tests, you go meet with the neurologists. The IMPACT Test, stuff like that. Depending on how you do and symptoms, the next step is obviously physical activity.

What’s an IMPACT test?

AS: That’s our baseline test we take.

Have you multiple seen multiple neurologists?

AS: No, I only saw the neurologist up here at Stanford.

Were able to take part in everything today at practice?

AS: Yeah. Contact is kind of like the final straw, but, yeah, I was able to go out there today. I had the black jersey on me, which is a little redundant seeing as how (quarterbacks) don’t get hit in practice. But, yeah, felt good out there.

What do you feel (Sunday)? How did you know you took a pretty good hit?

AS: It’s tough to describe. For me, the vision was the biggest thing for sure. I’ve taken a lot of hits over the years, to try to play quarterback all of a sudden when your vision’s not what it should be was difficult. And then, for me, ultimately it didn’t get better. It wasn’t one of these things I could blink off and my focus was returning. In fact, I went along the sideline and sat down and just continued to get worse. So, it wasn’t getting better. Ultimately, I didn’t feel like it was good for me, or more importantly, it wasn’t good for the team for me to go out there. I didn’t feel like I could help us much.

When did your vision get better?

AS: After the game.

Were you able to drive right away?

AS: I think I could have, but I didn’t drive home.

Do you think the hit from Jo-Lonn Dunbar contributed …

AS: It’s a great question. It’s all kind of speculation. It certainly didn’t help. Talking to the neurologists, yeah, it probably contributed for sure. Whether it kind of loosens you up and primes you for the next one that’s not as big. I don’t know. I felt fine after that though. I definitely know I took a big hit, but vision and everything like that was fine. The sneak, definitely when I came up after the sneak, my eyesight was (off) … Like I said, I tried to kind of blink that one off, played the four or five plays after that, and came to the sideline trying to collect myself. It just continued to get worse and worse. That’s kind of when I got evaluated.

How do you feel this week compared to last week?

AS: The same, totally the same.

Did you see (team medical director) Dr. Garza at Stanford?

AS: No, no. Separate neurologist up there. Independent of the team.

What were your symptoms? Did you have memory loss?

AS: Nothing with the memory. Definite headaches, nausea, stuff like that after.

Those symptoms went away the day after?

AS: Yeah. I feel good today. Like I said, I feel good today, everything I’ve kind of gone through, I felt good. It’s really not up to me though. Those are questions for the doctors. There’s a lot of stuff they’re looking at.

Are you concerned you’ll be able to start?

AS: At this point, it’s early. I feel like it’s still early in the week. I’m not sure. I’ve got some days (for a decision to be made), but I feel good.

If it were up to you could you play tomorrow?

AS: Kind of a pointless question. It’s not up to me. I feel like I went out there today and was fine.

Do you know when the decision will be made?

AS: No.

Was this more or less severe than the concussion you had last year against Dallas?

AS: More severe. Similar in a sense that it was my vision. Last year was not even close to this though, I felt like. Last year I didn’t even think it was anything. It was new, but I really felt like I could continue to play. It wasn’t even anything I knew to report, I guess. This year, for sure, I felt like I couldn’t go out there and play.

Where’s the line? As a football player you want to tough it out, but you also have to think about your future?

AS: To be honest, it’s not even so much that. I think that’s the way you should be thinking, but for me ultimately it’s tough to play quarterback without your eyes, when you can’t see … and see well. It’s 22 guys screaming around out there and you see bits and pieces of things and flashes of things and those all help you make decisions. All of a sudden it was stuff out there that I couldn’t make out and I just felt like I couldn’t help the team at all.

How did you complete three passes in a row after the concussion?

AS: It’s a great question. Great question. I have no idea. It wasn’t like I was blind. I don’t want to make it seem like that, but I certainly didn’t feel like I should go back out there. I was very concerned that I would go out there and hurt us.